


To Bake With Love

by sgteam14283



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Baking, Camp Nanowrimo, Career Change, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, NaNoWriMo, Relationship Goals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-09-26 17:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgteam14283/pseuds/sgteam14283
Summary: For Rose Cousland, baking was a way to unwind at the end of a long day after being a Warden.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some fluff involving my Cousland and Alistair that I really enjoyed writing. Enjoy!

Rose Cousland found comfort in baking. 

There was something about the exact measurements, the steady movements of putting it all together, and the wonderful smell as things baked that just seemed to calm her after a long day. Of course there were times when she was sick of baking, too much to do and too little time to do it all. Then she hated the fact that people knew she liked to bake and expected something homemade for the parties. 

But sometimes after a long day at Warden Headquarters she would pull out the worn cookbook filled with her families recipes and relax in creating something.

The end of the year always brought plenty of opportunities to bake and Rose didn’t waste many of them. Once the calendar turned to December, Rose was in the kitchen whenever she could spare the time she filled the counter with cookies and stored them in the garage (it certainly was cold enough to keep them fresh) until the holiday parties started.

Alistair opened the door and stepped into the house, greeted instantly with the smell of baking. “Rose?” he called out while taking off his coat and walking into the kitchen. It had been a long day and all Alistair wanted was to kiss his wife and sleep.

“In here.” Rose called over her shoulder as she slowly pulled out the baking sheet filled with cookies. They were going to Hawke’s place tomorrow for her annual holiday bash and she’d promised Varric that she’d bring some kolatczki’s. And since the dough had to sit for at least an hour she’d been working on them since she’d gotten home that afternoon.

“Mmmm…that smells good.” Alistair said with a smile as he fully stepped into the kitchen. Seeing the filled cookies, he raised an eyebrow. “What flavor?”

“Blackberry. These are for Hawke’s party but I set some aside for you.” Rose replied as she took off the oven mitts and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, suddenly tired now that the last batch was done.

“You know me too well.” Alistair moved closer to Rose and slid his arms around her waist, drawing her close to him. Softly pressing a kiss to her shoulder, he said, “It’s good to see you baking."

Rose closed her eyes and leaned into Alistair’s embrace. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, you look so happy. Plus when you get some flour on your face it’s the cutest thing ever. Even better when you get it in your hair, makes you look dignified.”

Rose let out a laugh as she turned around and placed her arms on Alistair’s shoulders before standing on her toes to give his nose a quick kiss. “I bet you say that to all the girls, Theirin.”

“Only the pretty ones.” Alistair gave Rose another kiss before asking, “Can those keep on the tray?”

“Yeah, why?” Rose asked as Alistair grabbed Rose’s legs and lifted so she was at eye level with him. Letting out a surprised shout, Rose wrapped her legs around his waist and laughed as he carried her into their room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was inspired by a tumblr post that said all girls really just want to own a pâtisserie. And while that might not be true for everyone, I felt that it fit my modern warden. Enjoy!

Rose Cousland was tired of being a Warden. 

At first she’d loved the job; traveling all over Thedas, fighting darkspawn, shoring up defenses, taking the odd job to supplement her and Alistair’s income. But as the years passed, and the injuries increased, she found herself wishing for a desk job at Warden HQ or even just something where she wasn’t getting hurt on a semi-weekly basis.

So when she was walking back to her and Alistair’s place one evening, she spotted a ‘for rent’ sign in the window of what had been a bakery right near the movie theatre. Stopping at the window, she looked into the darkened space and realized that it could work as a pâtissier.

“ _It looks like the equipment is still there and I’ve always loved baking. I could use some of my families recipes and have specialty themed pastries as well. Maybe a few local favorites._ ” she thought to herself while taking out her mobile and quick jotting down the number of the rental company.

Feeling lighter as she walked back to their house, Rose stepped inside and was greeted with a barking mabari skittering towards the door. “Hey Griffins.” she laughed, getting down on her knees to pet the dog that had seen her through so much. Getting up she hung up her jacket while calling out, “Alistair?”

“In the kitchen.”

“Missed you at the office today, were you out?” she asked after kissing her partner and he turned back to whatever he was making.

“Had to run to the other side of the city for something Duncan wanted.” Alistair said as he checked on dinner. It wasn’t anything fancy, Rose was the true cook in the family, but he could make do when needed. “Took longer than I thought, my contact was late and then some guards decided to give me trouble.”

“Nothing too bad I hope.” Rose frowned, the Denerim guard had always had a contentious relationship with the Wardens-if only because the Wardens didn’t have to take sides in local politics and the guard had to be loyal to the King or Queen, whomever that was. But lately that relationship seemed to be getting worse. “ _Another reason to leave. I wouldn’t have to keep checking my back when going deeper into the city._ ”

“-your day?” 

Rose snapped out of her thoughts and realized she had missed Alistair’s response to her question. “Finishing up paperwork from my trip to Ostwick. So in a way boring.” 

“I bet you enjoyed that.”

“Hmm. Let me know when dinner’s ready.” Rose gave Alistair a quick kiss and headed towards their shared study, wanting to do some research before bring up the topic to Alistair. It seemed that dinner was ready all too soon and as Rose sat down across from Alistair, she wondered how to bring up the subject. 

As it turned out, she didn’t have to.

“What’s got you so quiet? I know that paperwork isn’t your favorite but even you manage to find the bright side in that. That’s what I love about you.” Alistair set down his fork and looked at his partner of five years. Meeting her at Ostagar had been the only good thing to come out of that bloodbath and being assigned as her partner drew them only closer until that night in the Deep Roads when she’d saved him from bleeding out. 

And despite everything that happened to her as a Warden and to her family, Rose had never lost the sunny disposition that drew him to her in the first place.

Rose shrugged and absentmindedly pushed her food around the plate. “I’ve been thinking about quitting the Wardens for awhile. Or get a desk job so I’m not constantly on field assignment’s.” 

“I’m sensing another ‘or’ here love.”

Rose took a fortifying breath and pushed ahead, “Or I open a bakery. A pâtisserie specifically.”

Alistair was silent after the confession, not sure what to think. He’d known that Rose was getting tired of Warden business, but had thought that she just needed a holiday to Orlais or the Anderfels to feel better. 

Not a career change.

“-bakery by the movie theatre closed and they’re looking for tenants. I’ve always loved baking so I thought, ‘why not?’” Rose looked at Alistair and saw that he still had that surprised look on his face. “I haven’t called them yet though, I wanted to run the finances and talk to you about it.” she added hastily. “I also still have some of the money my parents left me, so we could use that as seed money.”

“You said you did the research, any idea how long it takes to get a certification?”

“A few years that includes a written exam and an apprenticeship. Although the university has a consumer arts program that I could take to start with.” Rose was starting to realize that this was a fool’s errand and had no hope of actually coming true. “You know what? Never mind, it’s a silly thought.”

“Hey. Don’t.” Alistair said, standing and taking Rose’s hand-pulling her out of her chair and into his lap. “I didn’t say it was silly. You’re not happy being a Warden so if you want to change that, then I’m not going to stop you.”

“Really?” Rose asked as she propped her chin on his shoulder.

“Really. Although if it takes years for a certification the spot might not be available by then. So why don’t why don’t we just go for a regular bakery that still serves those kinds of things? And I’m sure that you’ll want to use that ancient cookbook of yours.”

“It’s not ancient, it was put together by my grandmother.” Rose laughed at Alistair’s jab at her family cookbook that she used when holiday baking. 

“So vintage then.”

“Let’s go with that.” Rose fell silent after that, looking at Alistair and wondering how she was Maker-blessed enough to find a man like him.

“Shilling for your thoughts.” 

Rose gave Alistair a kiss before saying, “I love you.” 

\--

The timer buzzed and Rose ran to get the pastries out of the oven before they burned. Gently setting the baking sheet on the counter, she went to the others that had already cooled and picked up the pastry bag so she could finish filling them. It was Christmas time and everyone wanted baked goods for their parties or office. 

“Hey Rose?” Anders said as he stuck his head through the swinging door.

“Yeah?”

“You have the order ready for Leliana?”

“Yeah, it’s…” Rose paused, it taking her a second to remember where she’d put the order for her old friend. Then she spotted the boxes on the other side of the room. “Over there.” she pointed with her free hand while setting down the pastry bag. “Is she here?”

“No. She just called asking if we could deliver them to her offices. Apparently something came up and she can’t get away. Also that she’d pay double our delivery fee since it’s so last minute.” 

Rose made a face, “Please. Since she’s an old friend we’ll only charge her the normal fee.”

Anders grinned while walking to where the boxes were, “That’s what I said.”

Rose watched as her business partner double checked the order sheet and made sure that the boxes were secure before picking them up. “After I deliver these I’ll do the daily drop at the bank.”

“Okay.” 

Then Anders was through the door and Rose went back to filling the pastries. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she heard the automatic doorbell sound in the front of the house. Wiping her hands on the apron, Rose hurried through the swinging door. 

“How can I-” she started to say but cut off when she saw it was Alistair. “Hey! You on your lunch?”

“I am. Thought I’d stop by and see how things were going. Where’s Anders?” Alistair asked, wondering where the former warden was since Anders normally handled the front of house operations.

“He’s delivering Leliana’s order. Apparently the Divine's spymaster can’t step away for a moment. But everything’s going good.” Rose smiled at her partner, letting him give her a quick kiss on the forehead. “And since you’re here you can lend a hand.”

“Yes ma’am.” Alistair followed Rose through the swinging door and put on the apron that Rose tossed him. “What do you need me to do?”

“Make sure there’s a baker’s dozen and then dust powdered sugar on the top.” Rose waved a hand towards the pastries she’d been working on when Alistair’d arrived.

“Those look good.” Alistair said as he leaned over the box of pastries and deeply inhaled. “Those the ones you tested at home last week?”

“They are.” Rose replied while closing another box and quickly tied the ribbon around it, curling the ends so they fell into a spiral. “I added the some candied orange to the top this time though.”

“You spoil me y’know. Testing out all the new orders before making them here. I'm the most popular guy in the office.” Alistair grinned as he finished the task and then wandered over to where the kolatczki’s were waiting to be filled. “Ooo...these are my favorites.”

“Hey. Those are for Hawke’s party later on.” Rose playfully slapped Alistair’s hand away with a grin. “Why don’t you fill them with the blackberry spread over there.”

“So bossy. And you’ve got a bit of flour on your forehead.”

“Do I?” Rose raised tentative fingers to her forehead and was only slightly surprised when they came away white. “Well it’s an occupational hazard.” 

After that they worked quietly, each focused on their own tasks. But that didn’t stop Rose from thinking that this gamble had worked out. It almost hadn’t, the new bakery nearly closing six months after it had opened-but the opportunity to cater Queen Anora’s semi-annual tea at the castle had been a blessing from the Maker. 

She had to have Anders help her in the kitchen (even though their agreement said he would focus on the business side of things), and hire his friend Merill, but in the end they managed to fill the order and earn a highlight from the Queen’s office. After that she got steady orders from Denerim's nobility for their teas.

They kept busy with regular order from Warden HQ, with the bulk of Warden’s who came through stopping in for coffee and a pastry. And she’d just gotten a call from author Varric Tethras who wanted to place an order for his famous New Years Eve party.

“ _If this keeps up I might need to hire someone else._ ” Rose thought as she watched Alistair finish with the blackberry spread and pick up the strawberry.

Alistair felt someone watching him and looked up to see Rose staring at him with a smile on her face. “What? Do I have powdered sugar on my face?”

Rose shook her head, “No. I’m just amazed that all this worked out.” 

“Well you’re Rose Cousland-Theirin. Of course it did.” Alistair set down the spoon and closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. “We deserve some luck after all we’ve been through.”


End file.
